Railway-crossing signal.



c; c. REID.

RAILWAY CROSSING SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16. 1911 1 299,383, Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOR BY @afim ATTORNEY WITNESSES C. .-REID.

RAILWAYCROSSING SIGNAL. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16. I917 Patented Apr. 1,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES UNI ED STATES PATE T ornicn.

CALEB 0.1mm, or NEW BURNSIDE, ILLINOIS.

- RAILWAY-CROSSING SIGNAL.

1 "0 all "whom it maycmwei'n: i Be it known that LiOA LE B C. REID, ac1t1- zen of the United States, residing at New Burnside, in the" countyofJohnson and- State of Illinois, have invented ne and usefulImprovements in Railway-Crosslng Signals, of which the followingis' aspeclfication. I I I p This invention "relates to railway signals, andmore especially to track instruments by means of which acircuit isclosed by aflpassing train, so as to actuate a signal. In,the presentcase this signal closes'across a hlghway or other crossing, but it.isobvious that the closing of the circuit could set or. trip any kindof a signal or perform other necessary work. I

Details appear in the following specliication, reference being had tothe drawings wherein:a i J Figure 1 is a plan view ofa section ofsingle-track railway, with this invention applied at a point where thehighway crosses the same.

Fig. 2 isa section through a pit ad acent the highway crossing, and anelevatlon of the mechanism therein for closing the gate orsignal. I I

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective detail of one rail of the track,showing the'two members of the trackinstrument which .becomes a circuitcloser when depressed by the wheels of a passing engine or train. I

' Fig. a is an enlarged cross-section through one of the members and theclrcuit closer proper carried thereby, showingit in dotted linesasdepressed so that thejcircuit closer contacts with the two wires. I l IFig. 5 is a plan in diagram showing the action which takes place whenthe flange of a wheel passes the tongue at the inner end of one memberand in between therail and the tongue atthe inner endof the companionmember; I I

i Fig. 6 is-a perspectiveview 0f the wheel engaging shoe and I Fig. 7 isa diagrammatic view showing the electric circuit in which 'my device isarranged. I i

The primary object of the pecullarform of track instrument employed inthis invention is to cause the closure of a circuit by a trainapproaching a given po nt. Hereln said point is a highwaycross'ing, andthe closure of the circuitis employed to energize a motor which sets agate or signal I Specificationof Letters Patent.

, Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

Application filed November 16, 19 17. Serial No. 202,394.

across the highway, but it is obvious that the closed circuit couldperform other work although doubtless it will be in the nature ofsetting a signal of some kind. After the train has passed said givenpoint, or in other words when it passes off of one member of the trackinstrument and into engagen'ient with the next, it rides outside thelatter or between it and the rail and does not close the circuit becauseit does'not depress the second member. Therefore so long as any wheel ofthe train which is approaching is engaged with the first member, thetrack instrument closes the circuit, but as soon as the last wheel haspassed off the first member and onto the second member the circuit isbroken and in the present case the signal starts to assume its clearposition, but in any case the work performed by the closed circuit isover. Therefore this track instrument is serviceable with an engine orlong train, moving in either direction. I I

In the accompanying drawings the letters R designate the rails of atrack laid on ties T, andC is the highway crossing. The signal shown isa swinging armor gate G which at night will carry lamps or lights L andwhich when it is depressed actuates a bell or alarmdiagrammaticallyindicated by the letter A and connected up. in some Imanner (not necessary to illustrate) with a source of power so that itwill ring whenever the gate is lowered. The action of said gateiscontrolled by a motor M connected along a considerable stretch ofthetrack to 1 both sides of the highway crossing O, and the constructlon1s such that when. a circuit is closed through these two wires, as bythe actuation of the track instrument by a passing train, the batterydrives the motor and the latter in turn closes the gate; whereas, whenthe circuit is again broken, a spring S .-(or it might be 'a weight.orother device) again opens the gate and sets the signal at clear? Withthe signal and its operating mechanism as described above, I make use ofan improved form of track instrument or circuit closer best illustratedin Figs. 3, l, 5. Adjacent one rail R stands two'members or shoes 1which are practical duplicatw of and complementary to each other, and adescription of one will suffice for both. Their contiguous ends arespaced from each other in what I will call a break which in the presentinstance occurs adjacent the highway crossing C but preferably a littleto one side of the same so that passing vehicles will not run'over thebreak to the injury of the parts yet to be, described. In general,however, each member extends for a considerable distance from thehighway alongside one rail, and it is immaterial which rail although ina two-track railway it mightbe well to lead these members alongside theoutermost rails. Each member or shoe 1 is of angle iron, and preferablyL-shaped in cross-section as shown, its upright leaf 3 lying closeto'the inner face of the rail R and rising about flushwith the treadthereof, and preferably being lined on its outer face with insulation asat 4 so that it will not in any event come into contact with such. railand permit the charging of said shoe with a possible current in the railor the escape from the shoe to the rail of a current within the shoe.The horizontal leaf 5 of the shoe projects inward or away from the rail,and is disposed at such height that it will be struck and the shoedepressed by the flange of a passing wheel which rides over this leaf.The shoe is supported at at least three points by springs 6, and for atleast a portion of its length it carries on its under side an invertedT-rail 7 whose shank is attached to the shoe in any suitable manner andwhose head overlies the two wires V where the latter are bare. Itfollows that when the shoe is depressed said head is thrown into contactwith the wires and the latter are connected electrically so as to closea circuit through the battery and actuate the signal in the manner abovedescribed. By the word depressed I mean, however, that the shoe must bedecidedly depressed as would result from the pressure of the wheelflangeupon it when traveling over its horiz'ontal leaf. I would have thesprings so strong that cattle or malicious persons may findit impossibleto depress the shoe sulficiently to close the circuit. The upright leafof each shoe carries at its outer end an outwardly deflected springtongue 8 projecting toward the head of the rail and lined on its outerface with insulation which normally contacts with said rail, and saidleaf carries at its inner extremity an inwardly bent spring tongue 9deflected away from the rail and not necessarily covered with theinsulation, the inner tongues 9 standing of course at opposite sides ofthe break in the track instrument which is the space between its twomembers.

WVith this construction, the action of the forward wheel on thelocomotive of an approaching train is as follows: The face of the wheeltravels 011 the ball of the rail and its flange along the inner edgethereof, and when the flange reaches the outer end of either member ofthe track instrument it passes inside the outwardly projecting tongue 8and travels along the inner face of the upright leaf of the member, theedg of the flange meanwhile traveling upon the horizontal leaf thereofand depressing the shoe so that its Trail 7 makes contact with its wiresWV and closes the circuit to set the signal in the manner described.This action is duplicated by every succeeding wheel of the approachingengine or train, and the member is of sufficient length to bridge thetrucks in the longest car, and therefore the circuit is kept closedcontinuously during the approach of the train. Reaching the break orspace in the instrument, the flange of the foremost wheel rides past theinwardly proj ecting tongue 9 which yields to permit, then travelsacross the breaks, and passes between the corresponding tongue of theother member and the inner side of the rail, so that as it continues onits course it moves this entire member slightly inward away from therail, rather than depressing it, and yet it does not close electricalconnection between the rail and the member because the latter isinsulated as described. Finally it passes the spring tongue 8 at theremote end of the second member, and onward along its way; and thisaction is followed by all succeeding wheels throughout the length of thetrain. Thus it will be seen that as long as any truck overlies themember on the approaching side of the track instrument, the circuit isclosed, but as soon as the last wheel has passedfthe break the circuitis again opened and the spring S or other device may reset the signal toa clear position as it may well do, because at this time the last car isabout passing the crossing C. Obviously the same action would follow ifthe train were passing in the other direction. Obviously also the signalwould remain setat danger, or closed if it be a gateas indicated at Gr,if the train should stop across the highway, provided only that at leastone truck or one wheel remained upon and depressed that member of thetrack instrument which may be said to be on the approaching side.Finally it is also obvious that the closure of the circuit may actuateany kind of a signal or gate without departing from the principle of myinvention.

What is claimed as new is 1.. The herein described track instrument for'ailvay signals and the like, the same comprising two metallic membersof L-iron spaced from each other at their contiguous ends, their uprightleaves lying along the inner side of a rail and their horizontal leavesprojecting inwardly and adapted to be depressed by the flange of a wheelpassing over them, circuit-closing devices carried by said members andactuated by the depression thereof, and outwardly and inwardly deflectedspring tongues at the respectively outer and inner ends of each memberwhereby the flange on the forward wheel of an approaching train passesover the first member reached and depresses it to close the circuitthrough said wires, and is directed between the rail and the secondmember reached so that the latter is not depressed.

2. A circuit closer for track instruments comprising a shoe of L-shapedcross-section whose upright leaf lies along the inner side of a rail andwhose horizontal leaf projects inwardly and is adapted to be depressedby the flange of a passing wheel, insulation on the outer face of saidupright leaf, circuitclosing devices proper carried by said horizontalleaf, and sprin tongues at the extremities of the uprig t leaf, onedeflected inward into normal contact with the rail and the otherdeflected in the opposite direction, for the purpose set forth.

3. A circuit closer for track instruments comprisin a shoe of L-shapedcross-section whose uprlght leaf lies along the inner side of a rail andwhose horizontal leaf projects inwardly and is adapted to be depressedby the flange of a passing wheel, insulation on the outer face of saidupright leaf, circuitclosing devices proper carried by said horizontalleaf, spring tongues at the opposite ends of said upright leaf, onedeflected in- Ward toward the edge of the head of said rail and coveredwith insulation, and the other deflected in the opposite direction, forthe purpose set forth.

4:. A circuit-closing track instrument for railway signals and the like,the same comprising an inverted T-iron overlyin a pair of spaced wires,a shoe of L-shape crosssection Whose upright leaf lies alongside a railand is insulated on that face adjacent such rail and whose horizontalleaf projects inwardly away from the rail and carries the stem of saidT-iron, springs yieldingly supporting said shoe with the T-iron normallyout of contact with said wires, and spring tongues at the extremities ofsuch upright leaf, one bent toward the rail and the other bent away fromit, for the purpose set forth.

In testlmony whereof I aflix my signature.

CALEB C. REID.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

